Abstract

The lack of water resources planning and management in Yemen, an Arabic country located on the Arabian peninsula across the Red Sea from Ethiopia, threatens the existence of life and hinders the progression of Yemeni society. Education is the ultimate solution to the inefficient distribution of water. Egypt poses as the best model for application of hydraulic and hydrologic principles to solve the water deficit in an extremely arid climate. Sudan also exemplifies an arid country which received financial aid during its post-independence era characterized by non-oppressive government.

Introduction

Yemen, which lies in the southern corner of the Arabian peninsula, represents one of the best particular case studies for the need of water planning and management. Yemen has no efficient distribution of water, which is extremely apparent in the dry regions where very little rainfall occurs annually if at all. The coastal plain of the North is damp and generally receives little precipitation while the interior experiences considerable rainfall ranging from about 400 millimeters to about 800 millimeters annually. However, the cities of Sana’a and Kokoban, which are located on a high plateau, do not experience much rainfall at all and are in danger of desiccation unless a more efficient distribution of water can be provided as a result of better planning and management. Furthermore, the South is also quite arid because of very low and irregular rainfall. In fact, only about 0.2 percent of the land is cultivated. Nevertheless, the rainfall that occurs in the highest tracts is sufficient to support an agricultural sector. The main problem that exists is the lack of planning and management in a developing country with severe financial shortages despite the recent discovery of oil and political indifference, which is the real obstacle.
Problems in the North

According to Neil Grigg in a short national water planning reference made in his text Water Resources Planning, the specific problems with the North are as follows: scarce water data, an unorganized approach to water management, a lack of water institutions, and no effective water planning programs. In conclusion, the ineffectiveness derives from the inability of the people to govern themselves (166). Yemen is a republic governed by a House of Representatives. Effective water planning has not been established for any period of time. In the last decade, Yemen was a military dictatorship where water planning was halted at the political category, which is first and foremost for effective water planning. The government is still influenced enough by extreme conservatives to create an atmosphere of little cooperation in initiating radical water planning. Even if the government were to cooperate, governmental control is limited to the major cities of Sana’a, Hodeidah, Shibam, Kokoban, Marib, and Taiz. Some of the land is under control by shayks with their many shaykdoms. The real solution in implementation of water planning is education. Yemen is progressive enough to acknowledge the need for education.
Problems in the South

Problems in the South are based on those discussed later on low and irregular rainfall. Although this paper primarily focuses on the North, problems and solutions are similar and possibly as applicable in the South. The reason for the primary focus on the North is that personal experience was only possible in North Yemen before Yemen was reunified. Before the reunification, South Yemen was Communist and tourism was prohibited.

Mode of Water Collection

Presently in the rural countryside, Yemeni women collect water in buckets, tins, and jerrycans holding five or more gallons by walking up and down steep paths for several hours of a typical day. Thus, communal labor is used to transport water from cisterns, which are a focal point of Yemeni society, to households (Marechaux 80). This method of water transport is very ancient indeed and not very efficient. Pipeline systems running from the cisterns to the households would provide a greater efficiency of transporting and distributing water. However, the severe lack of education in Yemeni society has resulted in great hindrance to progressive water planning and management. Thus, only places where rain is in abundance fair reasonably well in meeting water demand, although inefficient.
Current Water Transportation

Transportation of water to places beyond the immediate reach of the cisterns is done by truck (81). Although this mode of transportation is a step above manual carrying in efficiency, it is still an obsolete mode considering the more efficient technology of the present. Yemen is in dire need of water planning and management to insure more efficiency in distribution of water to the arid regions and regions of geographical isolation. These regions become too dry for acceptable living standards.

Highland Spring Flow Terrace Systems

Highland regions of Yemen depend on highland spring flows known as ghayl in Yemeni Arabic. One of the largest terrace systems for ghayl is located in the highland valley of al-Ahjur. The highland valley of al-Ahjur contains approximately 20 springs which irrigate a 50 square kilometer area. The area of irrigation is typically 10 kilometers by 5 kilometers.

Features of this spring and terrace system include:

• Flow Rate Q < 10 L / sec = 10 dm^3 / sec = 0.01 m^3 / sec
• Time to fill cistern = 4 hours = 240 minutes = 14,400 sec
• Irrigation area / cistern = 2700 m^2 of terraced plots
• Total area of irrigation = 50 km^2 = 50,000,000m^2
• Total optimal usage of 20 cisterns in a 24 hour period = 20 (24/4) = 120
• One cistern can be optimally used about 6 times / day.
• Total possible area to irrigate / day = 120 (2700m^2) = 324,000m^2
• Total optimal time to irrigate entire area = 50,000,000m^2 / 324,000m^2 = 154.32 days
• Total number of cisterns to irrigate in 1 day (24 hours) = 50E6 / 2700 (6) = 3087
• Total number of cisterns to irrigate in 1 application = 50E6 / 2700 = 18,519

Note that these values are approximations only (Varisco 371-372). A more realistic time period to irrigate the entire valley of al-Ahjur would be significantly closer to 200 days — a rather long time for continuous irrigation. As one can see, regions such as this highland region are the most critical regions for water allocation and distribution. More specifically, water allocation relies on rights and laws without regard to appropriation or distribution while water distribution, on the other hand, refers to technological responses possibly accompanied by political ramification (365-367). Evidently, these ramifications can hinder efficient and equitable distribution among the capita in the highlands. Again, the ability of the people to govern themselves to effectively allocate and distribute water is in desperate need for the Yemeni community.

Water Flow Variability : A Major Constraint

Strategies in water allocation must acknowledge and respond to constraints inherent in water flow and must apply technology and socio-political mechanisms to determine access and coordinate control. Specifically, the variability of water flow constrains the solution to efficient distribution and foreshadows a concern of water scarcity among irrigators. Even though spring flow in the highlands is rather continuous and without discernible variation, seasonal flood flow in coastal Yemen is quite intermittent (373-374). Thus, water allocation and distribution on the coast may not be optimal. Some of the water is likely to be wasted. This water that is wasted could definitely be used by inhabitants in the highlands during a dry season, which threatens the existence of life in the area.

Highland Use of Cisterns to Control Velocity and Volume of Flow

Nevertheless, communal labor exists in the highlands to collect the spring flow in cisterns as mentioned beforehand. Collection in these cisterns, although archaic, does allow control of velocity and volume of flow in a particular water turn. The cisterns serve as the adaptive response to the constraints present in nature and as the technology of the present (374). A need definitely exists for efficient pumping of water through systems of pipelines to provide more convenience if not anything else. The communal hand labor of collecting the water in cisterns is not sufficient to support an increasing regional population. Highland Yemen will definitely experience extreme water stress and possible water scarcity in the near future unless effective water planning is introduced and implemented well.

Water Control Problems on the Coast

Meanwhile, coastal Yemen experiences a different type of water control problem. Seasonal floods in coastal Yemen have caused major erosion damage on the field system. The construction and maintenance of barrages in a major wadi does not provide enough protection if a flood is large and violent. These barrages are in turn destroyed, and the flood flow is not able to be efficiently distributed as it arrives (376). Flood control planning is not only a necessity for the coastal plain but a must for successful irrigation. More water must be channeled or diverted from the flood. Barrage design must also be improved, and strategic placement be analyzed and implemented.
Comparison of Coast with Highlands

In summary, the flood problem of the coastal plain necessitates supervision to insure better distribution of the discharge during the flood. On the contrary, the highlands do not need a supervisory role. Rather, these inhabitants need better allocation and distribution to meet an increasing demand for water, which is the primary cause for increasing water stress and water scarcity. Water scarcity may occur in the highlands because of the imbalance between supply and demand (371-377).

Scarce Rainfall on Coast : Specific Part of Problem

Part of the problem of the unpredictability of water flow in the coastal plain is due to scarce rainfall, which is currently less than 80 millimeters per year. In fact, the evapotranspiration potential greatly exceeds rainfall. Therefore, the mountain aquifer cannot be recharged by precipitation (Overmeeren 38). So, water abundance does not occur by predictable rainfall. Rather, unpredictable seasonal floods dictate the occurrence of water on the coast, and since the flood waters are not controlled, water shortages potentialize in domestic use. On the other extreme, too much water from the flood damages the soil for agriculture, which is just as much of a distribution problem as the increasing demand for a limited supply during certain periods in the highlands. Nevertheless, precipitation occurs more frequently in the highlands and may be reliable in certain villages and cities within the interior of the country, excluding the cities of Sana’a and Kokoban. Sana’a was the capital of North Yemen, or the Yemen Arab Republic, before Yemen was reunified. This city is positioned on a plateau exceeding an elevation of 3.5 kilometers above sea level which creates an extreme arid climate where rainfall is almost nonexistent. Kokoban, which is not too far from the vicinity of Sana’a, is located at the top of a high, steep cliff overlooking the city of Shibam. This city experiences very dry periods as well although not quite as extreme as the city of Sana’a, which is the highest elevated city. Sana’a is the main focal city to the problem of water allocation and distribution primarily because of its relative vast size and its increasing water demand in a present water stress zone.

The Mountain Aquifier : Water Source for the Coast

Although explorations and studies of the mountain aquifer boundaries have been conducted on the coast, these research results require some formulation into an implementable plan. Specific research of the land includes hydrogeology measurements, interpretation, and implementation of geophysical exploration techniques. In fact, a couple of satisfactory geoelectrical models have been designed to represent the aquifer system. Intruding seawater has been observed to mix with water from the aquifer thus contaminating the groundwater, which is pumped from wells to irrigate the land. The eastern half of the Wadi Surdud, the area around the aquifer, is suitable for agriculture but not really suitable for domestic aesthetics. On the other hand, the western half is more difficult to successfully irrigate due to the lack of surface water and the presence of vast sand dunes formed from the coastal winds (38-48). As a concluding remark, even where water may be in abundance at times, inefficient distribution and ineffective management causes problems with optimal utilization. As for the areas where water scarcity is a rapidly growing concern, better methods of water transportation must be developed in order to insure efficient and effective distribution.

Similarities of Cause for Drought in Arid Regions of Africa

According to Scot E. Smith in “Drought and Water Management: The Egyptian Response,” politics deserves the credit for disparity in arid regions because governmental aid is not sufficient or is even nonexistent in certain desert countries such as Ethiopia. Smith focuses mostly on the Sahara Desert lands between Mauritania and Somalia. Furthermore, unstable governments irritate the situation by discouragement and lack of cooperation. The cause of drought in the Sahel has been due to the temporal distribution of precipitation rather than the amount (297-298). As one can see, Yemen fits rather well into this category. Droughts in Yemen increase in potential because of unresponsive government and temporal distribution of rainfall. Water conservation measures must be extended from the present practice. Water institutions need to be created resulting from an increase in education. Thus, the first step in the solution of the water distribution problem in Yemen is to educate the Yemenis effectively, another recurring theme of this paper. As a result from an effective education, the people will then possess a greater ability to govern themselves — the ultimate solution.

Specific, Applicable Egyptian Solutions

Finally, some of the Egyptian measures to reduce water consumption may be just as applicable in Yemen. For example: reuse of agricultural drainage water to a certain extent, requirement of only night irrigation to reduce evapotranspirative loss, an increase in excavation of wells to tap existing groundwater reserves, construction of windbreaks along the windward side of the Marib Reservoir, and a greater effort to capture more runoff (300) would certainly apply to the Yemeni condition. Solutions are quite compatible among desert countries since these countries share a common denominator — arid climates that greatly depend on water for the existence of life.
Sudan : A Particular Country that received Financial Aid

Sudan also shared this great dependence on water for the existence of life. Before Sudan gained its independence in 1955, water distribution was not efficient enough for irrigation, which is the only realistic means of farming in desert soil. During the post independence era, Sudan has received financial aid to build, maintain, and rehabilitate production in previously irrigated areas. Foreign aid and financial aid from the World Bank have promoted high technology for a better form of irrigated agriculture (Wallach 417). In fact, these areas are irrigated by an installed line of pumps(427). Although oil reserves have been discovered in Yemen, the country lacks sufficient funds for major water projects because of the extreme economic destitution of North Yemen’s past and the possible indifference of the government of the united country. A significant time period will elapse before the economic system stabilizes and can take advantage of the oil reserves. Also, education will take a significant time period to infiltrate the Yemeni society.
Conclusion

Obviously, the Yemeni have a need for education to continue and improve their standards of living. One of the most important of these standards is the beneficial allocation of water resources. An increase in education will directly lead to an increase in the ability of self-government. In turn, this increase in self-government is directly related to the effectiveness in water planning and management. Effective water planning and management could reduce tensions caused by a dry period. Thus, the water stress level would be effectively reduced. The existence of life would be significantly enhanced on the greater availability of water in the arid region.

References

• Marechaux, Pascal. “Water Places in Yemen.” Mimar 42: 76-81.
• Overmeeren, R.A. van. “Aquifer Boundaries Explored by Geoelectrical Measurements in the Coastal Plain of Yemen: …” Geophysics 54: 38-48.
• Smith, Scot E. “Drought and Water Management.” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 41: 297-300.
• Varisco, Daniel Martin. “Sayl and Ghayl: the Ecology of Water Allocation in Yemen.” Human Ecology 11: 365-383.
• Wallach, Bret. “Irrigation in Sudan Since Independence.” The Geographical Review 78: 417-434.

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